Times Online: An Israeli border policeman prompted scenes of panic at a Tel Aviv airport this afternoon by committing suicide at a farewell ceremony for President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and his wife, Carla Bruni.

All protocol was dropped as the man’s body fell from a high vantage point and a shot rang out. Mr Sarkozy and Ms Bruni were surrounded by their secret service agents and hastily bundled aboard their plane.

Security guards for Ehud Olmert pulled out their handguns and hustled the Israeli Prime Minister and his entourage into waiting bullet-proof limousines.

When the incident ended, however, Mr Olmert and Shimon Peres, the Israeli President, boarded the Sarkozy plane to say a proper goodbye.